In a light excitation illumination system, such as a laser-ceramic phosphor system, a laser-quantum dot system, and the like, a light emitting material to heat sink bond can fail due to coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatches. In other words, the CTE of the heat sink is generally higher than the CTE of the light emitting material (e.g. phosphor, quantum dots etc.) so that, as temperature of the system increases during operation, the light emitting material expands at a lower rate than the heat sink, leading to thermo-mechanical failure of the system. Such problems can be managed by controlling power of an excitation light source, such as a laser, and/or by controlling the temperature of the system. Controlling power of the light source, however, can result in an overall reduction of light output of the system; controlling temperature can require complicated and/or expensive heat sinks and/or temperature management schemes and/or cooling schemes/equipment.